Naegiri Week 2018
by YoshiStack
Summary: My contributions to Naegiri Week 2018 and the prompts it gives. Now complete!
1. Chapter 1

**So uh, another thing that isn't my usual style huh? But I fell hard over these two and I really want to get better writing them, so why not?**

 **I'm aware not all of these are going to be all that spectacular but... I'm trying, and that's gotta be enough for now, right? Even if they aren't the best, someone's bound to like the stuff I've made, right? (My anxiety isn't being kind to me today if you can't tell).**

 **I really hope so.**

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Day 1: Fluffy

She was no stranger to working late into the night. Sleep had never been something to come easy for her, not even as a small child. Between the stress of listening to her father and grandfather argue constantly when they thought she was asleep to being thrown into her detective training full time at age eight, she'd never had the chance to sleep easy. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd had a 'good' nights sleep, if such a concept even existed. As such, she could survive on very little sleep, and did so on a fairly regular basis. Staying up into the early hours of the morning was no issue for her.

However, it seemed not everyone was accustomed to such a sleep schedule.

The sounds of soft snoring pulled her thoughts out of her notebook and onto the other person sitting at her table. There was Makoto Naegi, sitting across from her, leaned forward onto the table with his homework sitting all but abandoned under his arms, and his head resting on them as a makeshift pillow with his eyes closed. His shoulders lifted and fell in even, deep breaths. He'd been asleep for quite awhile if the drool stain on his hoodie sleeve was anything to go by.

She glanced up at the clock. " _Almost midnight…_ " she noted. More time had passed than she'd thought. She turned back to his sleeping form. He let out a deep sigh in his sleep as he shifted slightly, then muttered something into the crook of his elbow, muffled and indistinct.

It wasn't entirely that surprising to see that he'd fallen asleep; the only really surprising thing was that he'd managed to stay up for as long as he did. He'd offhandedly mentioned earlier that he'd had issues sleeping the night before, something about a strange dream about a monochromatic teddy bear and salmon keeping him from proper rest, and it showed on his face. His usual bright eyes had a glassier appearance to them all day, and more than once he had to be poked at by their classmates to keep from falling asleep in class. Despite this, he'd still insisted on meeting with her that evening for one of their usual study session, which were starting to become a much more common occurrence.

At her questioning of if he was sure he'd be ok, he responded by waving a hand dismissively, assuring her " _I'll be fine, Kiri. I'm not all that tired anyways,_ " And then he suddenly had that small, shy, endearing smile of his that always managed to warm her heart as he scratched at his cheek in the way he always did when he was nervous and quietly added " _Besides, I really like spending time with you like this,_ "

Bless this boy for being so selectively unobservant at times so that he didn't notice the heat she'd suddenly felt in her face after hearing that.

She'd had no real reason to deny him nor a real desire to do so, so she said nothing in protest. And here they were now, several hours later, with her still wide awake and the predictable outcome of him falling asleep while attempting his homework having come to fruition.

To think he did this all because he'd wanted to spend more time with her. She shook her head at the thought. It was ridiculous, it was foolish, it was incredibly stupid of him…

Yet it was entirely in character for him.

She let out a soft chuckle at him. "You're such a fool, Makoto Naegi," she said, smiling a little to herself. A fool that cared too much about his friends and too little for his own well being; that was far too generous while expecting far too little in return. A fool that carried a nature that encompassed all the traits she normally looked down upon in a person, yet made the best of them.

And he was a fool that had somehow wormed his way into her heart to become her best friend.

She continued to watch him, taking in all the little sleepy movements he made. The way his mouth trembled slightly, how his face would occasionally scrunch up for a moment, how his nose would twitch and how fast his eyelids fluttered. He let out another drowsy murmur into his arm before tilting his head so that it was resting on his left one instead.

She had to admit… he looked rather cute like this.

She felt her face beginning to warm again as the thought crossed her mind. She turned her head towards her bed to force herself to look away.

" _Stop this,_ " she mentally chided herself. She had too much work to do, she had a double murder case on her hands to solve. This was no time to allow herself to be distracted… which was something that Naegi was very good at, whether he realized it or not. She shook her head. She should send him back to his room, allow him to sleep on his own bed, and yet when she turned to look at him again…

He looked so peaceful sitting like he was; she really didn't want to disturb that if she didn't have to. She sighed at herself and moved to rub one of her temples, closing her eyes at the same time.

"I must be getting soft because of you," she said in a soft scolding voice. Naegi, for his part, said nothing in return.

She opened her eyes to look at him again, and that's when she noticed it suddenly: his hair was incredibly fluffy.

Truthfully, she'd never really paid much mind to Naegi's appearance more than was absolutely necessary. It wasn't because she thought he looked bad of course, but the parts she found the most interesting about him were less to do with how he looked and more with what he had to say. And yet, perhaps because of the lighting or that she had already been sufficiently distracted by him, suddenly she found her eyes drawn to the messy mop that was his hair. There was a lot more to it than she'd ever noticed (perhaps trying to gain an extra bit of height through it?). It almost reminded her of a puppy's coat of fur with how it looked.

...Well now with a mental comparison like that, she kind of wanted to pet it. Damn it.

" _Maybe I…_ "She bit her lip and looked away again. This was stupid. Why was she even debating this? This wasn't like her at all; she wasn't some young schoolgirl with a ridiculous crush, she was better than that.

At least… she was fairly certain she wasn't. She wasn't able to experience those… right? She was too broken for those, wasn't she?

And yet, she couldn't get the idea out of her head, even as she forced herself to look through her case notes again. It was after absently flipping through them a third time that she finally gave up, closing it with a soft sigh before looking at Naegi again. She swallowed thickly.

"Well… nothing ventured, nothing gained." And then, before she let her logical side take over once more, she reached out her hand and touched his head.

It was… soft, at least as far as she could tell through her gloves. It was just as fluffy as it looked, her entire hand sinking into it as if it were a pillow. She allowed her fingers to roam through his hair, taking it in slowly. It was so strange in a way, it felt much thicker than her own hair, but even so her fingers still glided through it as if it her nothing. She moved her hand towards that ridiculous antenna-like part of his hair that he claimed was impossible to get rid of and tried to flatten it. True to his word, it popped back up almost immediately, as if nothing had happened. She tried (and failed) to suppress the smile threatening to spread on her lips.

She heard Naegi let out another small mumble and she froze for a moment, arm going completely rigid. Seconds passed as she held her breath in anticipation, preparing to return her face to its neutral state in case he woke up. Finally, he stopped twitching under her, letting out a small, contented sounding sigh as a smile formed on his face. She let out a breath of relief then pulled her hand back off of him. Surely that would satisfy her curiosity for awhile.

As she retracted her hand, the sleeve of her shirt rolled up slightly, allowing her to properly feel his hair on the edge of her wrist where her glove ended. She paused as it tickled across her skin and gave a look at the glove still sitting on her outstretched hand.

The curiosity was back once again. Normally, she wouldn't dare do such a thing, but seeing how he was still asleep…

She pulled her hand back and slowly tugged on one of the fingers of her glove until the bottom of her scar mangled hand and thumb were completely exposed. She sucked in a deep breath, though not because of the scars themself; she'd had many years to get acquainted with the sight of them already.

Even with him asleep, pulling off her gloves in his company felt… alien. Such a feat was rarely done in front of others, so far only her grandfather and an occasional doctor had seen them in their gloveless state. She felt exposed without them; there was no way she could take it off entirely. This would have to do.

She stood up fro her seat, it would allow her a farther reach. Slowly, ever so slowly, she leaned forward, resting her other hand onto the table and she reached out toward him again and-

She put her hand on the wrong spot. She'd put it on her notebook without noticing, and it's slick casing offered her no support. Her hand shot forward, sliding across the table much faster than she ever could've anticipated. Unprepared for it, she fell fast, her notebook flying off the table across the room, letting out an unceremonious "Oof" as she hit the table.

"Mmph," Naegi let out a groan as he opened his eyes. He smacked his lips a few times before looking around, a confused and muddled expression evident on his face. He blinked a few times.

She quickly clamored back to her chair, pulling her gloved back on entirely. She stared down at her lap as she felt his tired gaze fall toward her.

"K-Kiri…? What… did something happen?" He slurred sleepily, squinting at her due to the light. He let out a groan as he rubbed at one of his eyes.

"No, Naegi. Go back to sleep," she said, trying to keep the breathlessness from the adrenaline out of her voice.

He paused for a moment. "Are you sure you're ok? Your face is lookin' kinda re-"

"You must be dreaming. Go back to sleep, Naegi." He shrugged and laid his head back down. She let out a silent sigh.

After coming up with such a brazenly ridiculous plan like that, maybe she needed to go to sleep too.


	2. Chapter 2

**Not gonna lie, this is probably the one I'm the least proud of? Just because it's a little weird and based off a really dumb hc I made awhile ago.**

 **Because apparently letting them be fluffy and baking cookies together was too easy I guess.**

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Day 2: Oven

A loud clanging sound pierced through the silence of the house, and she was awake in an instant. Her eyes snapped open and immediately began searching the still dark room for any signs of danger. A moment passed; nothing was unusual, nothing out of place. Nothing out to get her at all.

She let out a deep breath of relief she had been holding as her tense muscles loosened a bit. She could never be too careful. Just because the world had made great progress in recovering from despair didn't mean it was an entirely safe place yet. There was still ways to go before that happened.

Free of those fears for at least that moment, she gave another, more thorough look around the bedroom. Three things stood out to her almost immediately.

Firstly: The sound that had awoken her had come from further in the house. There was also a faint amount of light streaming in from the bottom of the door helping justify that conclusion.

Second: The bedroom was strangely warm for the beginning of December. It wasn't uncomfortable so, she actually found it quite cozy and comfortable, but it was strange. She hadn't left the heat on before going to bed. Accompanying it was a strangely sweet scent wafting into her nose.

And third, and perhaps the most notable: the space beside her was empty, and had been for quite awhile given how cold it was.

And strangely enough, that was the observation that answered most of her questions.

She moved to get up from the bed, pulling the covers off of her and letting them lay lopsided back on the bed. She opened the door and began moving down the hall, hand against the wall almost as a guide as she moved toward the source of the light from earlier. As she got closer both the heat and sweet smell both increased. A new sound hit her senses as well as she approached, rushing water. Her brow furrowed at that.

She rounded the corner and paused at the entrance to the kitchen. There she found Makoto, muttering under his breath and standing hunched over by the kitchen sink with his sleeve rolled up. He had his right arm stuck under the water, wincing as it ran over his skin. Beside him was a large metal tray with what looked to be freshly baked cookies on it—chocolate chip, likely from the dough he'd made the other day.. They looked very disorderly, as if they had been thrown around as they were pulled out.

Although, looking at his position again… perhaps they had been.

He didn't notice her, it seemed. "Makoto," she said, quiet, but still loud enough to be heard over the sink.

It worked. He jumped at the sound of her, obviously startled, then winced as the water hit his hand instead. "K-Kyouko! Uh…" he stammered. He shut the faucet off and quickly grabbed a towel to cover his arm. "Hi! Um… did I wake you? Sorry,"

She wordlessly walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, looking like he wanted to say something, but stopped when he saw her gaze fall toward his arm. Letting out a defeated sigh, he held it out for her to inspect. She gingerly took hold of it and pulled the towel off.

There was a large part of the underside of his forearm that had turned red. A minor burn by the looks of it. Nothing serious at least. He winced again at her touch as she grazed over it, biting down on his lip and looking away from it. She gave him an apologetic look and released his arm again.

"Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah," he scratched at his cheek and let out a nervous laugh. "The oven mitt slipped when I grabbed them, so I hit the oven door when I pulled them out. B-but it's just a little thing, so don't w-"

"You know that's not what I was asking you," she lightly interrupted him. His mouth snapped shut. "Makoto, it's three in the morning."

He looked away from her and shuffled awkwardly on his feet. "I… I mean, I was going to need to get it done soon for the holidays anyways," he glanced towards the tray still on the counter. "And I just happened to wake up, and I figured… why not?" His voice trailed off, making him sound just as nervous as he looked. She let out a quiet sigh through her nose.

The first killing game in Hope's Peak left them all scarred, damaged in a way they could never fully recover from. Even after the Future Foundation had picked them up didn't mean they felt safe. They'd all developed their own coping mechanisms following their escape, little things that helped remind them that they had really gotten out, that they weren't expected to kill one another, that escaping had been real.

Fukawa threw herself into her writing for an almost unhealthy amount of time in some cases, Hina tried to make herself useful for those around her while ignoring her own needs, even Togami lashed out and threw several coffee mugs when he thought no one was looking. Even she hadn't been immune, despite her job and past revolving around death. There were the rare moments when she was alone and suddenly the full weight of being the grounded, logical, emotional pillar of the group came crashing down on her, and she had to let it out in a way that must've been a shame to her family name.

Of all of them though, Makoto's had probably been the strangest. He'd taken up baking cookies of all things. They were never anything fancy, usually just something basic and easy, but they weren't too half bad. It had surprised just about everyone the first time, walking into the foundation for the day and leaving them for anyone that wanted them.

When questioned, he'd laughed nervously at her and admitted that it helped destress him because it reminded him of his mother and the life he used to live at home, warm family greetings and good times and all—something that felt so long ago now. Plus it helped him from feeling too restless if he started feeling too anxious, being something productive to do.

"Besides," he'd added with a laugh, "how can you be as stressed as before if you have a cookie?"

He hadn't done it in awhile, not since she'd been recovering following the final killing game, and that had been months ago. He only did it if he was really and truly stressed about something.

Doing it this late at night was new, though she had a feeling she knew what kind of issue had kept him awake.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she inquired, keeping her voice calm.

He looked back up at her with a pitiful, defeated expression. "I… n-no. Not right now," he muttered, then eyes widened as he threw his hands up and added "Not because I don't trust you or anything like that—I swear! I-I… I'd just rather focus on this first and… and calm down, I guess."

She nodded. "Ok. When you're ready." she said simply.

And so she did just that; she waited for him. After checking over his arm one more time, she let him continue on as he'd been, even helping him when he asked for it (he didn't trust himself with the oven mitts after the previous fiasco). They fell into their usual working routine in the kitchen with practiced ease; it was almost peaceful, in a strange way. Perhaps she would've enjoyed the moment more if it wasn't for the strange time and possible reason of keeping her significant other up.

About an hour passed before he was completely satisfied. She was pulling the last batch out when she heard him shuffle from behind her. He'd moved to sit on the floor, tucking his knees up towards his chest and hugging them tight. He'd grabbed one of the previously cooled cookies while she'd looked away, and offered her another as she moved to sit beside him. They sat for a few moments in silence as she allowed him to collect his thoughts, simply enjoying the fading heat still radiating from the oven.

He paused for a moment, frowning after he swallowed a bite. "I… it was just a couple of nightmares was all. A-and normally I can deal with them just fine but… I don't know. Something about this time was just… different, I guess. Maybe because it's been a while?" He looked away from her as he finished speaking.

She was silent for a moment. "Which ones were they?" she asked. Similar to her, he had a list of a few select nightmares that often haunted his sleep.

"I uh… I actually don't really remember the first one very well. It may have been the empty trash pit again? But I think I woke up earlier than usual in that one. But the other was…" His face scrunched up a bit as he squeezed his eyes shut. "The other was the video again. With you and all of the others that died at Hope's Peak telling me to-" His breath hitched and cut off his words. He buried his his face into his legs and tried not to shiver, even in spite of the warm kitchen.

She took hold of his free hand and squeezed it gently. She allowed the moment to pass, and soon enough he lifted his head to look at her again, eyes only looking slightly more watery than they had before.

"S-sorry, I just… I'm being stupid again, aren't I?" He rubbed at his eyes and sniffled a bit. He stared at the cookie still in his hand. "I just… couldn't think of anything else to do, so I…" he let his words die off.

"Having nightmares doesn't make you 'stupid', Makoto, and neither does trying to cope with them, even if your methods are a bit… unorthodox," she assured him, squeezing his hand again. "But you know, this isn't your only option to deal with them. You can always talk with me about it, no matter how small it is."

"But it's not fair to you if I do that every time they happen. I don't want to be a bother. I can usually handle them fine it's just… tonight was an exception was all." He looked at her with a wilted expression, and suddenly she could tell just how tired he looked. He'd been keeping this in for much longer than he normally would, an impressive feat given how usually transparent he seemed. Despite all the years they'd known each other, he still never seemed to get over that inadequate mindset of his.

She sighed. "Makoto, it doesn't bother me if you want to talk to me because you had a bad dream. It never bothered when you needed to after we escaped Hope's Peak, and it still doesn't bother me now. You know that already." she assured him. With a soft, wistful smile she added. "Take it from someone who's still dealing with the consequences of doing it: bottling everything up like this isn't healthy. And it certainly isn't like you to do so."

"I… I know it isn't. I just… It's something I need to work on, I guess." He let out a yawn. He finished the rest of his cookie in silence, then leaned his head on her shoulder, a wave of exhaustion suddenly washing over him. His lack of sleep had finally caught up with him it seemed. "Hey, Kiri?"

"Hm?" He must be tired if he reverted back to that nickname.

"Thanks for putting up with me," he muttered sleepily into her neck.

She smiled and leaned down to kiss his head. "Of course, Makoto." she whispered. As his breathing deepened, she added an equally as quiet. "I love you,"

He smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

**I finished this probably about... 12 hours ago? So that's how my life's been. I had just abut a million different ideas for this one, but none of them quite 'fit' the way I wanted, and then I came up with this one literally just yesterday.**

 **We had to have at least one holiday themed one, so why not this one?**

* * *

Day 3: Bright

"Kirigiri!" He beamed at her as soon as she walked in. She turned towards the sound of his voice and made her way over to where he was standing by the wall. "I thought you said you weren't coming?"

"Yes, well I hadn't intended on it, but my case wrapped up much quicker than I'd expected. I figured I could spare a few moments before I retired for the night." She said, the put her back against the wall to look out across the gym.

With semester testing done and the end of the term just an arms length away, the annual Hope's Peak Holiday Party had begun. The idea seemed to be that 'What better way to celebrate surviving another term of schooling at one of the top schools in the country than by spreading some holiday cheer?' (She could think of several, but apparently no one asked for her opinions) The usual lights of the room had been dimmed and in there place, replaced with multitudes of strings of colorful lights all throughout the room, and cheerful sounding holiday tunes were playing on the speakers. Students from all three classes currently enrolled at Hope's Peak were mingling about and scattered throughout the room. She could see a small gathering of students from their own class having an exciting discussion with some of the 77th class members.

Despite that, Naegi seemed to be alone, and in such a strange spot too. How peculiar…

She could feel the gears turning already. Perhaps she'd just found a new mystery to solve.

"So, how has the night been so far?" she inquired with a look towards him.

"Uh, absolutely crazy, just like you said it would be." He put a hand to his chin in thought, and she couldn't help but notice that he was mirroring the way she made that exact pose. "Let's see… already Celeste's tried to get a poker tournament going, Fukawa's sneezed several times and almost trashed some of the decorations, Hina's slapped at least two people for making a move on her and Sakura, and Mioda tried to hijack the music for her own songs," He paused for a moment and rubbed his ears. "Oh, and I'm pretty sure Enoshima spiked the punch. Or at least she got her sister to do it."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because Taka yelled at her earlier for trying to add something to it, I haven't seen Ikusaba since then, and that-" He pointed towards the bleachers where Mondo was shouting loudly about fighting the next person to talk back to Taka while the hall monitor himself and Fujisaki tried to hold him back "-is crazy even for Mondo. And that-" He then pointed to the other side of the room where Hagakure appeared to be having an actual intelligent conversation with Byakuya Togami of all people. "-is just plain scary."

She let out a low chuckle as he finished his recap. "What astute observations from you,"

"Heh, thanks. I've got this great friend, we're really close. You probably haven't met her. She's an awesome detective," he said with a joking tone and smile on his face.

"Oh, really now?" she asked with feigned bemusement. "Do tell."

"Yeah. She's been showing me how to be more observant and pick up on more details of other people. She's pretty amazing actually, and I don't know how she ever stands being around someone like me so much." Despite his hash words about himself, he still grinned. She was fairly certain he was joking based on his tone, but still, she wasn't about to affirm that kind of opinion.

She shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure if you asked her she'd tell you that you don't give yourself enough credit and that you had plenty of those skills on your own already."

"Huh," he let out, his expression turning more serious. "Funny. That sounds like an awful lot like something she'd say. Weird."

"Very weird." She agreed with a solid nod.

A beat of silence passed between them as the music continued to play around them. And ten Naegi couldn't keep the smile off his face any longer and he burst into a fit of giggles. She allowed herself a smile as she watched him struggle to contain his laughter. Normally she wouldn't allow herself to be so open in a public place, but it was dark and loud in the gym, and they were far enough away from most everyone else that she felt comfortable enough doing it.

She waited until he'd finally collected himself a minute later before continuing speaking. "So, you'd say this is going about as well as a party full of high schoolers without adult supervision could go?"

"Yeah, just about." He scratched at his cheek and looked back behind her again. His expression lit up for a moment as another thought struck him. "Ah, but one of your predictions about the night hasn't come true yet!" He sounded almost smug about it, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. "There hasn't been any mishaps with any mistletoe tonight!" His eyes darted around for a moment as he said that, and silently he hoped she didn't notice the strange swing in his tone as he said that.

She did, of course. "Really now?" she asked, and folded her arms in front her her and raised a brow at the idea. If he was trying to lie to her then she must be getting close to the answer. "You don't seem so sure about that answer, Naegi."

He fumbled. "A-ah, well no successful attempts, I guess I should say," he conceded. He reached up and scratched at his cheek. "Not for a lack of trying though. Kuwata's been trying all night get some set up so he has an excuse to hit on Maizono. I think he may have gotten some set up actually." His eyes flickered towards the ceiling again. "But I think Taka got Sakura to help take them down… I think."

There was the answer she'd been looking for. She didn't think he was the wallflower type without some kind of reason. "So is that why you're over here then? To avoid any that they maybe missed?"

"Ah, y-yeah. You got it, as usual," he admitted with a sheepish smile. "Knowing my luck, I'd end up under one without really trying to, and I don't wanna imagine how awkward that'd be-"

A sudden sharp whistling cut him off, startling him out of finishing his sentence. He jumped at the sound and pulled himself off of leaning on the wall. He looked over to find Kuwata grinning like a madman at the two of them before he let out another loud cheer.

"Hell yeah! I got one! Ha ha!" He pumped a celebratory fist in the air. Maizono, who was beside him, let out a little laugh, though quickly covered her mouth to try and hide it.

Naegi blinked at them. "H-huh? What're you-" Both of them were glancing at the space above them, and his blood ran cold. His eyes shot up to where they were looking.

Hung above them was the exact thing he'd been trying to avoid all night: a neatly hung mistletoe.

He couldn't stop looking at it. The dumbfounded expression just wouldn't leave his face, and no matter how many times he pinched himself, he still wouldn't wake up. How had that even gotten there? He was certain no one had come over here when he saw Kuwata running around earlier! Had this been someone else? His gaze dropped back down towards the other two still staring at them, and he swore he saw a strange glint in the idol's eyes.

"She didn't…" She couldn't have. There was no way to predict this! Not even if she was supposedly psychic. He kept looking back and forth between the two of them until he heard a clearing of a throat beside him, snapping him back into reality.

He felt his knees turn to jelly."K-Kiri, I swear I-" He stopped at the sight of her expression. Her mostly neutral mask was back, long gone was the smiles she had given him before. If anything, her face had visibly darkened. Her eyes narrowed at him. He gulped.

She wasn't happy. Oh he'd screwed up. Oh god he'd screwed up a lot. And he hadn't even done anything this time!

"Naegi," her voice was eerily calm. "Did you plan this?"

""W-w-what!? N-no! Of course not!" He stuttered. His heart was pounding. Why him?

"Are you sure? I'm not sure I believe you." She took a step towards him. His legs were too frozen to work "Were you perchance, hoping this would happen?"

"N-no! H-how could I possibly plan something like this?!" She was so close to him now. He swallowed thickly.

"By relying on that troublesome luck of yours, I'd imagine." She said, leaning down in front of him.

"I'd never-! How could I even-? That's not how-" He couldn't finish any of this thoughts. Words spewed out of his mouth with little filter. He couldn't think properly.

"I… you don't have to do it if you don't want t-mmph!' He felt a pair of soft lips press against his own, and time seemed to freeze. The music seemed to fade away, and the only thing he could focus on with his eyes was the fact that Kyouko Kirigiri's face was in front of his own. Because she was kissing him.

Kyouko Kirigiri was kissing him. She was kissing him.

His brain was too fried to think of anything other than that fact. So he didn't focus on anything else, he just closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment.

After what simultaneously felt like forever and not nearly long enough, she pulled away. He felt breathless, dizzy. His heart was still hammering in his chest, but no longer because of his nerves. He felt her lean close to his ear.

"If you wanted to kiss me, all you had to do was ask," she whispered into his ear. The room was loud, yet all she was all he could hear at that moment. And then, just like that, she turned from him and stalked away, boots clicking all the way until he went back through the gym doors.

He stood there silently. Did that just happen? That didn't just happen, did it? Hadn't she been mad at him...?

Except no, of course she wasn't, she didn't get that mad over petty things like that. She'd just been messing with him again.

And it worked.

Kuwata let out another cheer, shouting something about how Naegi should call it his 'Christmas present to him' and come kind of congratulations for 'manning up' (nevermind the fact that she'd kissed him, not the other way around) before running off to presumably share the news.

He felt himself lean back against the wall again, and then found himself sliding to the floor. He fumbled for his hoodie zipper for a moment, then once he finally got a hold of it, zipped it all the way up to cover his now very, very bright red face.

It was a good thing winter break was almost there, because he was going to need a long time to process what just happened.


	4. Chapter 4

**This is a lot later than I intended to post this, but it's been a busy day.**

 **If this is a little messier than the last few, I apologize, but I literally wrote this in a day. I was originally going to use a different idea, but then I realized it was a bit too similar to another one I have for later in the week.**

 **…I was also going to make it shorter, but then I still somehow got 1600 words, so go figure.**

* * *

Day 4: Hallway

He couldn't stop pacing. This was a stupid idea, completely stupid, completely idiotic. What was he thinking? Had he even been thinking when he came up with this? Probably not. **  
**

" _Would you like to- no, no. Do you want to-... no! I thought maybe we could… GAH!_ " He resisted the urge to pound himself on the head in frustration. He settled on running a hand through his hair instead and letting out a small sigh. Why did this have to be so difficult? They were just a few words! Just a few simple words, that was all.

So what if they were the words that he'd be asking Kirigiri out on a date with? No big deal right?

God he wished.

He swallowed, but his mouth still felt far too dry. It was no secret among the 78th class that he had it bad for the Ultimate Detective. They'd seen how starry-eyed he'd get or how blushy he'd get in her presence, how she only ever seemed to open up more if she was talking to him. Apparently, half of their class thought they were already an item and that they just didn't like showing it in public. He could only imagine the reaction he'd get if he told them that that wasn't the case at all.

It wasn't like he _didn't_ want it to be true, but he just wasn't sure. Of course he knew he liked her, but the idea of her reciprocating? It was crazy! She was so smart and intelligent and sharp and just flat out amazing, and he was just so… so him. So much more underwhelming by comparison. But still, something about the fact that their peers thought they were together inspired him to take a chance. There was a movie that had come out recently that he thought she might like, and he thought was pretty interesting too. He made a promise to himself that morning that he'd ask her that very day.

...And then he didn't see her all day; she was out, busy with some new investigative work the police wanted her help with. And with a whole day to think and worry about what the possible outcomes could be and especially all the ways this could go wrong, he'd turned into a ball of anxiety. Now here he was, looking like a crazed maniac pacing in front of her door while muttering to himself. If anyone saw him right now, they'd probably think he was a complete lunatic. He was thankful the hall seemed to be entirely devoid of anyone else at least.

He was half tempted to forget this crazy, half baked nonsense of an idea, but he'd already sworn to himself that he'd see it through. He'd never forgive himself if he let himself chicken out now.

That did nothing to help ease his nerves tnow hough.

He paused in his back and forth movement down the hallway and looked at her door again. He'd seen this door every day, there was nothing to be fearful of! And yet now he couldn't get his heart to stop racing at the sight of it. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself. He wasn't able to stop himself from restlessly fidgeting in place though, fingers drumming loudly against his thigh. It was just a door… just a door. All he had to do was approach it, raise his hand to knock and-

He backed away again. _"Stop being so stupid! Just knock!"_ he immediately chastised himself again. That was at least the third time tonight he'd done that. He ran a hand through his hair again with an irritated glare at the door.

He'd been playing a terrible game of touch and go with the damn thing for what felt like an eternity now; right when he thought he was ready, his feet started moving backward of their own accord. Except, no they weren't, because that was his doing because he felt like he was losing his nerve.

He shook his head and bounced on his heels in place to keep himself from pacing yet again. He had to think about this logically, that's what she'd want him to do, right? He thought so. He closed his eyes for a moment in thought. What was the worst that could happen from the most logical perspective, not from the perspective of his overactive imagination?

" _Well, logically... the worst that would happen is that she would just say no. Maybe she'd be a little blunt about it, but… she wouldn't do anything more than decline, it wouldn't be like her,_ " He nodded to himself. She wasn't the type to make it a bigger deal than it actually was; if she wasn't interested, she'd say so, and that would be that. It wouldn't stop it from hurting a bit but… it wasn't like the world would end.

He could do this. There was no ham in trying. With that in mind, he hardened his gaze, puffed up his chest, raised his hand again and-

"Naegi." He nearly actually jumped into the air at the sound of that. He actually did let out a yelp of surprise, then turned on his heel and nearly dropped his jaw at the sight.

"K-Kiri?!" he squeaked in surprise. She hadn't even been in her room?! Apparently not, since she was standing right behind him with her arms folded across her chest. She didn't look mad with him, but she didn't look quite glad either. Her neutrality was in full force it seemed. Just how long had she been standing there!?

"Naegi, do you mind telling me what you've been doing in front of my door for the past seven and a half minutes?" she asked.

"Erm, well I uh…" He tugged at his hoodie as he stammered uselessly. Had it really only been seven minutes? It sure hadn't felt that short. "I uh.. .I was going to ask you something! I thought you were in your room; Hina said she saw you when you came back so I thought…" He trailed off, unsure of how to finish his sentence.

"I had to stop by the headmaster's office to pick up the classwork I missed because my investigation." She didn't look too pleased to have done so. A small frown tugged at the corner of her lips as soon as the word 'headmaster' left her mouth. "Normally Ishimaru gathers it for me, but it seems he was preoccupied today."

"O-oh. Well, I guess that explains it," He let out an awkward laugh and scratched at his cheek. A beat of silence passed between them.

"You said you wanted to ask me something?" she finally broke it, snapping him out of his nervous stupor.

He gulped. "R-right! I did! Er…" He gulped. No backing down now. "Kiri, I was wondering if maybe… if you possibly wanted to uh…"

"Yes?" The way she was curiously looking at him was NOT helping him in the slightest.

"I uh… I was wondering maybe possibly if you wanted to see a movie with me on Friday?" He practically shouted at her, then squeezed his eyes shut, fists clenched down by his sides. He'd spoken much too quickly. He couldn't stop himself from just blurting them out at a rapid rate; he was afraid he wouldn't get them out otherwise. But there, he'd at least done it.

A minute passed. Then another, and still no answer.

When he opened his eyes again, he found her standing in her usual thinking pose, hand to her chin with a look of deep contemplation plastered on her face. She looked up at him as his eyes met her own. "Friday? As in this Friday I presume?"

"Uh, yes?" He didn't mean to make it sound like a question.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible." She informed him with a shake of her head.

"O-oh… I-I see…" Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, that was how the saying went, right? It didn't help his hurt heart, but if she didn't want to go, it wasn't his job to force her. "W-well, let me get out of your way then, and uh-" He started moving towards his door, already trying to pretend like this hadn't happened.

"Naegi," she stopped him just short of grabbing his door knob. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say I was busy with some more work at the police station this Friday, but if you're free Saturday, then I would be happy to join you."

He felt his heart start to race again. She was saying yes?! She was saying yes! Yes!

"S-Saturday's just fine! Completely!" he quickly stuttered out. "Better even!"

"Alright then," her mask slipped just a fraction as a small smile appeared on her face. "I look forward to it then." She moved to get door. She paused just as she unlocked it and looked back at him. "Good night, Naegi."

"G-good night, Kirigiri." And then her door was shut, and he heard the soft click of the lock only moments later.

He let out a low, hard laugh under his breath and allowed himself to lean against the door and stared at the opposite wall of the hall. All the worries he'd had, all the anxiety that had built up, it was gone. She'd accepted his offer! He had a date on Saturday.

The thought felt so foreign, but exciting. He let out a deep sigh of relief…

...Which then turned into him choking on air. In an instant he felt the anxiety return as a sudden realization hit him:

 _He had a date on Saturday. With Kyouko Kirigiri._

He covered his face with his hands. What had he just done?

Oh god help him.

* * *

 **Poor Naegi, getting so worked up about everything. Totally not me self projecting about how I get really worked up over little things, not at all**

 **Oh, fair word of warning: The next few days are probably going to be late. Or at least tomorrow will be. My nephew is here for the holidays, and it's his birthday tomorrow, so I don't know how much time I'll have to write. I'll still be completing Naegiri week regardless though, even if it takes me until 2019.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Welp, this took longer than expected. Apologies for the delay, but I really needed a break from writing. I meant to post this yesterday, but I didn't finish it in time for that.**

 **Hopefully the chapter length makes up for it?**

 **Obviously the rest of the chapter will be posted after Naegiri week officially ends, but it's a minor thing. So long as people are reading it, that's all that really matters to me.**

* * *

Day 5: Distance

The bell signifying the end of classes for the day rang out loudly across the campus. Naegi allowed himself to lean back in his chair as it played out to let himself stretch and relax at bit. For a school that was nearly entirely fixated on talent, the coursework could be pretty rough at times. He suppressed a soft groan as he rubbed at his face. The homework tonight wasn't to be fun, he could tell already.

He heard some shuffling to his left and looked over to see several of his classmates putting their stuff away and chatting excitedly to each other, mostly about whatever plans they had to spend the rest of the day doing. Among them all though, the one person he noticed the most was Kirigiri. He was half ready to open his mouth to ask her if she wanted to do something with him when she walked right past his desk and went straight to the door. He blinked in surprise as she turned out of it it, the last visible sign of her being a few strands of her hair.

" _Wow, she's in a hurry,_ " He noted. She'd moved at a speed that was quick even for her and already long strides (which he'd had much practice trying to catch up with). Maybe she had plans already? Or maybe some work to get done? Either could be a possibility he supposed.

He had to admit, it was a touch disappointing to realize that. He'd kind of hoped to ask her if she wanted to hang out and so something, even if that something was just sitting in each other's company. But it wasn't entirely unexpected, she was often pretty busy like this.

He could always try again tomorrow.

Celeste let out a long, dramatic sigh from behind him. "So, that was the last appearance of our dear classmate, the Ultimate Detective." she bemoaned.

Wait…. say what now!?

"Wait, what?" He turned in his chair so fast he it almost made him dizzy. "What are you talking about?" She hadn't mentioned anything like that recently as far as he could remember. Unless he'd been zoned out again…?

Celeste put a hand to her mouth as a soft look of surprise came over her features. "So you mean you didn't notice? I must say that's quite surprising, given that you sit right next to her," she gave him an amused smirk. "Perhaps her observational skills haven't rubbed off on you so much?"

"Er uh…" Was it worth trying to deny that? Probably not. "Notice what exactly?" There was a nervous edge creeping up in his voice. Why was he nervous? He had no reason to be! Right…?

"Hm…" Celeste paused for a moment and turned to look out the window nearby. "There was an unusual form sticking out of her bag before she left. On it, it said 'Request of Transfer'."

"W-what!?" He exclaimed. Request of transfer…?! What did that mean? A million different ideas started buzzing around in his head all at once. Maybe it had something to do with her case work? Or maybe Celeste had misread it? He swallowed thickly.

Suddenly he had a very bad feeling sinking into the pit of his stomach.

She tilted her had at him and ran her fingers through her hair. "Really, you didn't know? Out of everyone I would've expected you of all people to have been more aware of it. You seem to be the only she ever opens up to, after all. Perhaps I was mistaken in thinking so?"

"Er, y-yeah, I'd say she and I are pretty close friends," he affirmed with a hesitant nod. He'd gotten her to open up to him quite a bit in the last several months. She was still mostly a mystery to him, but he at least saw him as a friend, so that was progress. "But I still have no idea what you're talking about though. She's never mentioned anything about this before to me. I don't even know what that page would be for."

"Well, I would assume it would mean that she's leaving Hope's Peak…" Her lips kept moving, but he was no longer listening to her. He was too stunned and his thoughts were racing far too quickly to spare the gambler any more mind.

" _Leaving… Hope's Peak?!_ " He was stunned. There was no way that was true, right? She'd mentioned a distaste for the school's focus on talent before, but he didn't think it went so far as to want to leave; if anything, she said it's ridiculous curriculum at least afforded her more time to do her work. The only real problem she seemed to have was with the school's headmaster.

His eyes widened at that thought. A memory from many months ago pushed its way up to the forefront of his brain. A conversation he'd had with her toward the beginning of the school year, one of the first he'd had with her. A conversation many months before he'd gotten through her walls to forge friendship, when she still only had one goal in mind for being at a school such as Hope's Peak.

 _"I don't intend on staying here for long. Your attempts at friendship with me are only going to lead to disappointment for you in the end,"_

She'd said them so long ago that he'd almost forgotten about that frigid interaction. But now…?

He had to find her.

"Sorry but I… I need to go!" He hastily spat out. He stuffed his things into his bag and bolted for the door. He heard someone yelling his name from behind him, but he honestly didn't care. He'd deal with it later. He had a mission right now.

A thought struck him as he rounded another corner towards the stairs. There was always the chance that Celeste was wrong; maybe she'd misread the document, or maybe it had to do with something else. Maybe she'd just been lying to him again to get a rise out of him, it wouldn't have been the first time she'd done that to him, after was a good chance that he was just overreacting to a rumor without any merit in it.

But… he had to know for certain. It wasn't as if he'd never lost friends before; there had been plenty of others he'd befriended i the past only for them to eventually move away and lose contact with him. He was used to it and ok with it. But… there was something different about it with her. The idea of losing her of all people to the harsh fate of a long distance made his chest ache in a way he'd never felt before. He didn't want her to go if he could help it.

So he had to know.

He realized he probably couldn't stop her if she was that dead set on leaving. She wasn't the type to be easily swayed, especially by such a small thing as the feelings of someone else. But none of that would stop him from at least trying. And if nothing else… he really wanted her to know just how much her friendship meant to him before she left.

He found in her in the hallway leading to the headmaster's office. She seemed to have heard his footsteps, as she paused for a moment and looked back. "Kirigiri!" He rushed over to her. He let out a small puff as he stopped beside her.

"Naegi," she greeted in her normal even tone. "I apologize for taking off so quickly, but I have some business to attend to. A meeting with the headmaster, actually." she'd started walking again. She didn't seem too pleased about the idea, though she rarely ever was.

That was all the confirmation he needed.

His hand shot out to grab her arm before he could stop himself. "Kiri, wait!" Her body stiffened for a split second at their contact. She turned back to look at him again. "I… Please don't go! I don't want you to leave!"

"Go…?' she echoed. A rare startled look morphed onto her face, eyes slightly widened as her other free hand fell to her chest. "What are you-"

He faltered for a moment. He released her hand from his grip and shuffled on his feet. He found himself unable to meet her gaze for some reason. "I-I just.. I know it's selfish of me but… I really don't want you to leave the school." He took a deep breath, then lifted his head again, meeting her surprised look with an intense one of his own. "You're…I really appreciate the friendship we have, Kiri, a whole lot, I really mean that. I haven't had a friend as close a you in a long time. I've really liked hanging out with you so much these past few months, and talking with you about your work or you listening to me ramble on about nothing, or just.' He paused for a breath. There were too many things to count really; enough that it would take too long to list them all. "Well… a lot. I guess… In summary, I just really don't want you to go because you're one of my best friends and… I'd really miss it if you decided to go."

He bit his lip before continuing. "I… I know it's not my place to tell you what to do, and if you're that sure about it, I know I can't stop you. But… I really want you to know that I'd miss seeing you around here, and it wouldn't be the same without you. At least… not to me." He finished, and he was proud of himself for not allowing his voice to waver at the end. But not he had to wait and face her reaction, and he couldn't get a read on her at all, as per usual. A heavy silence hung between them for a moment.

"Naegi," she finally said. "Who ever said anything about leaving the school?"

"Wait… h-huh?!" he stammered out. What!? He hadn't been expecting that from her. Maybe some kind of vague explanation that only Kirigiri could ever come up with, but not a flat out denial. He didn't know what else to say.

"I'm not going anywhere, Naegi." she continued on. She folded her arms in front of her and raised a brow at him. "Just what exactly gave you the idea that I was?"

"I… the form? The transfer form, the one you have! Celeste said she saw it before you left." Naegi answered. "The one you filled out to leave Hope's Peak."

"Perhaps you should fact check the details for yourself before blindly listening to someone who's entire reputation is built on lying," Kirigiri said with a slightly cross look. She reached into her bag and pulled out a sheet of paper, which she held out for him to look at. At the top of it, it did indeed say 'Request of Transfer'. There were multiple parts of it that were filled out in ink, her neat handwriting standing out clearly on the sheet. All the lines were filled out, that is, except for one.

The final place for her signature at the bottom was left blank.

He blinked at it a few times, unsure of what he was seeing. "Wait, but this… this isn't completed!"

"That's right." She nodded.

"But… but what about what you said to me back when we first met? About not staying here long and only being at the school for a specific purpose?" He reminded her. Surely she hadn't forgotten, had she?

Now it was her turn to look away from him. "So you do remember that conversation," she muttered. She shook her head and turned back. "I'll admit it: that was my original plan. My intentions were only to accomplish one goal, and then leave at the earliest opportunity possible. But then… things changed, and they changed because of you, Naegi." She gave him a small smile.

"M-me!?"

A nod. "Yes. I remember that first encounter between us well; frankly, I thought you were an irritating, open hearted, naive fool that focused too much on trying to buddy up with everyone. I wasn't intending on staying long, so I thought I'd spare you the trouble of trying the same for me, for both of our sakes."

He winced. Harsh words.

"But then you surprised me for the first time: you persisted in trying to talk to me. You kept attempting to befriend in spite of my frequent refusals, and you never seemed to let them sour your opinion of me. And through that persistence, you eventually got through to me. I made friends for the first time in as long as I could remember through our classmates, true connections that actually mattered, and ones that I could actually care about. And then… there's you yourself. "She tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear at that. "Worming your way even further to cement yourself as someone even closer to me than the rest. I still don't know how you've managed to become my best friend. Your aptitude for socializing is quite incredible."

Naegi almost let out a gasp. She considered him to be her best friend? He snapped his jaw up with an audible clack to keep it from hanging.

"When the time came for me to request to leave I filled it out to near completion, and then… I hesitated. Because I thought of you, and all the friends I've acquired since starting here, and how as ridiculous as it all was, I'd started to enjoy it here. I didn't want to leave, because now that I have all of this, I don't want to lose it. I don't want to lose what _we_ have because of the distance it will create." She motioned to him as she said that last part. She stared down at the incomplete sheet of paper. "So, no, Naegi, I'm not leaving Hope's Peak anytime soon."

He blinked at her, and the a large grin erupted over his face. "Kiri, that's fantastic! I'm glad!" And before he knew what he was doing he found himself pulling her into a hug. A moment passed, she'd stiffened in his arms and his senses came back to him. "S-sorry! So sorry!" He immediately released and stepped back a few paces. "I'm just really happy to hear that! ...And a little embarrassed that I let myself get so worked up over nothing." He admitted sheepishly.

"Well, I suppose that just goes to I have more to show you about investigating properly then." She gave him a light smirk. "So there's another reason I can't leave I suppose."

He laughed. "Yeah, I guess not. Sorry for being so… weird, I guess. I'm just relieved you're not leaving. Cause I really like you-" There was a pause as realization of what he just said dawned on him. He threw his hands out in front of him defensively as he felt his face heat up. "As in I like hanging out with you! T-that's what i meant! Not that i don't like you or anything like that, but I-"

"MAKOTO NAEGI! NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!" He flinched at the booming voice of Kiyotaka Ishimaru. He looked back to see the hall monitor power walking over to him with an unhappy expression on his face. Oh no. He was in for a long lecture.

The voice that had shouted his name as he darted out of the classroom suddenly came back to him.

He turned to see the Kirigiri had already left, leaving him to suffer alone. But even as his ears started ringing from Taka's lack of volume control, he still thought it was worth it.

Kirigiri, for her part, had duck around the corner of the hallway in front of the headmasters office. She still had a few minutes before she was expected, and the less time spent around him, the better. She hadn't told Naegi of her plans to avoid a reaction such as the one he'd had, especially once she'd changed her mind, but that luck of his seemed to strike again. Well, it didn't matter too much anyways. She allowed herself a small smile at the intensity of his words and expression. To think she mattered so much to him...

She let her hand hover over where his arms had wrapped around her. She couldn't help the low, soft laugh.

He gave out nice hugs.


	6. Chapter 6

**A bit of a shorter one, but one I was certain about from the moment the prompts were announced. Letting them play Pokemon together seemed too good to pass up on. Not exactly perfect in my eyes, but I'd spend way too long trying to polish it if I didn't force myself to push it out.**

 **Oh, and Merry Christmas guys!**

* * *

Day 6: Game

"Ok, so now you get to pick your starter!" Naegi informed her enthusiastically. Three different creatures had appeared on her screen, an owl, a cat, and a sea lion looking creature. He started to point at the screen with his own stylus as he spoke. "Rowlet, Litten, or Popplio! It doesn't really matter which you pick, but they each have a different type, so you'll want to think about that."

"I see…" she nodded. So each of the types had different effectiveness from what he'd already told her. After a moment of deliberation, she decided to go with with the owl, Rowlet, the grass type.

"Ah, Rowlet's a nice choice! It gets a really interesting type when it evolves," he said. His attention turned back to his own game. "Grass and ghost. And it just looks really cool too. I'm picking Popplio though. Can't go wrong with water types."

She let out a hum of acknowledgment. "You seem to know quite a bit about this game despite how new this one is. I take it you've played this series before?" She inquired. He did seem the type to appreciate the cute designs she'd occasionally seen from these games. And she was fairly certain she'd seen a stuffed Pikachu somewhere in his room before.

He nodded as he continued to play. "Yeah! Komaru and I have played for years, at least since Diamond and Pearl!" He seemed to realize that that would mean nothing to her so he quickly added "Er, for awhile, in any case. We always get them together so we can trade with each other. Well, at least when I was still at home." He looked back up at her with a shy smile. "Which, by the way, thanks again for doing this, Kiri."

"It's not a problem." She assured him for what felt like the umpteenth time.

He'd approached her while she'd been working with a copy of one of the newest Pokémon games in hand and a simple request to play it alongside him. She'd been ready to decline and get back to work, she wasn't much of a gamer after all, but there was something about the look on his face that made her hesitate. An ever-so-slight frown that made her pause, and a strangely sad look in his eyes that made her heart sink. Whether he realized it or not, Naegi had perfected the 'puppy dog eye' look, and though she was normally immune to such charms, she found herself completely vulnerable when it came to him.

How could she say no to him when he made such an expression?

(It had nothing to do with the strange feeling she'd get in her chest at the thought of him, nor did it have anything to do with the fact that she found his expressions downright adorable. Not at all, she didn't fall for things like that)

Thus, that how she found herself currently playing her first Pokémon game beside him and learning all about the series from him. She had a lot to get done still, but she couldn't bring herself to be mad at him for distracting her. She had to admit, she could see why the series had endured so long, even if it wasn't exactly something she'd have gone out of her way to play by herself. It was simple, but surprisingly charming.

A lot like a certain lucky student she knew.

"Well still, I really do appreciate it," he continued, pulling her out of her musings. "This is the first Pokémon game I haven't been at home for. I know it's weird, especially since there's online and stuff now but… not having someone to play right by me is just… really unnerving." A small frown adorned his features.

Homesickness then. It made sense, Naegi gave her the impression that he was very close his family, and Hope's Peak was pretty far from his home. It explained why he seemed so insistent for her to play through his expression.

"It reminds you of home, I understand." She assured him once more. She didn't like seeing the frown on his face, so she looked back down at her game. "It's asking me to nickname it?"

He perked right back up at that. "Yeah! You don't have to, but I think it's more fun. Oh! You should name yours Sherlock! And I could name mine Watson, and-!" Naegi began to babble excitedly at her about so many things about the game. A smile returned to his face, a much more fitting expression for someone like him. His ever excitable nature was just another thing she found herself admiring about him, strange as it was for her. A few minutes later he suddenly stopped speaking and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Sorry, I'm kind of talking a lot, aren't I? I hope I'm not being too annoying,"

"Not at all." If anything, it was kind of cute to see him so into talking about this (not that she'd ever admit that to him). She felt her expression soften a bit as he looked away from her and back down at his game again. He started to ramble on again, not all of which she could keep up with, but he appreciated the attempt regardless

She was aware she wasn't likely to get any of her work done tonight at this rate. She was getting too wrapped up in Naegi's unabashed enthusiasm about the game to pull herself away now. She'd probably regret this foolish and time wasting decision tomorrow morning, but in the moment, she couldn't force herself to feel that way.

Because if nothing else, seeing him blush so furiously after seeing that she nicknamed a Rockruff she'd caught after him made the entire night completely worth it to her.


	7. Chapter 7

**So I'm about a week late on this. The holidays caught up to me and I got distracted by Katamari and Pokemon is all I can really say. But better late than never, right?**

 **So this one is a little weird and requires some context. So one of my favorite AU's for this series that doesn't get nearly enough attention is when DR1 still happens as normal, but when the survivors escape, they find that the world is fine. Junko lied to them about it having gone to shit, and now they have to deal with the aftermath of the killing game while in a world that isn't aware of all the details of the killing game.**

 **I've always wanted to write for it, but I think I should probably actually watch/play UDG before really attempting it. And most of what I can think of relates to Naegi and or Kirigiri, which is only partially what I'd want to do. Maybe one day if I have time I'll write more, but this is definitely always something I think would happen.**

 **As a final note, I wanna thank everyone that's read, liked, and reblogged all of my works for these prompts. This was my first time really doing anything like this, so my anxiety was crazy high and the support really helped. I hope that I'll be able to do more with these two in the future, but I'll probably take a break from them after this fora bit.**

 **I apologize again for the lateness of this one, and I certainly hope it was worth the wait.**

* * *

Day 7: Sound

 ** _Bang_**

It was the absolute worst sound he'd ever heard.

 _ **Bang**_

Loud. Constant. Banging. Rhythmic. Metallic. Terrible. Horrible. Awful. The absolute worst sound he'd ever heard. Nothing he'd ever heard before it could compare.

 ** _Bang_**

It echoed in his ears without pause and without end. Every few seconds it rang out again, ignoring his pleas for it to stop and pounding into the ground without any mercy.

 ** _Bang_**

Each time was louder than the last as he continued moving backwards; the only measurement he had to tell how close he was to his demise. He desperately wanted to cover his ears and block it out, but he was stuck, arms pinned and legs tied. He wasn't sure if he could've moved them anyways though, they felt too heavy and numb, as if they were paralyzed.

 _ **Bang**_

If there was anything capable of rivaling the pounding from behind him, it was the feeling in his chest. A unbearable tightness gripped around him, as if he'd been sitting in a vice instead of a desk, and left him struggling for air in shaking, shallow gasps. His heart pounded away at a rate he'd never thought was possible; it felt about ready to explode. He couldn't stop himself from shaking against every rapid beat.

 _ **Bang**_

Sweat trickled down his forehead as he still kept moving. His shoulders heaved as he tried to get in more air. He wanted to scream, yet couldn't muster up the sound to do it. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't focus on anything except for the fact that he couldn't breathe.

If the piston didn't get him, he was certain he'd die of oxygen deprivation soon after.

 _ **Bang**_

This was entirely wrong. Completely and totally wrong, he hadn't killed anybody! Why was he declared guilty?! It didn't make sense! None of this made and semblance of sense!

Why was he sentenced to die for a crime he hadn't committed!?

 ** _BANG_**

He flinched as the sound increased tenfold. He was so close now. The ground beneath him shook with such an intensity it made his stomach churn.

 _ **BANG**_

His eyes started darting around the room wildly, searching for some way out that deep down, he knew he'd never find.

He made the mistake of letting his gaze fall over to the chain link fence separating the rest of his classmates from him, and suddenly what little air he had became even more scarce as his breath hitched.

 _ **BANG**_

He saw five faces looking at him, all carrying varying levels of disappointment in him—in the idea he would stoop so low as to murder. Contempt, betrayal, resignation, a refusal to even meet his eyes.

And a look of indifference, but with a gloved hand linked through the fence that spoke far louder than any expression from her would have.

He pulled his eyes away. He couldn't bear to look any longer.

 _ **BANG**_

He tensed once again and gripped his knees tightly. This was it. He was right in front of it now, it's immense shadow loomed right over him. He couldn't move, couldn't escape, he couldn't do anything. He squeezed his eyes shut.

His thoughts were moving too quickly to focus on any one thing anymore, anything except for one thought:

He didn't want to die..

 _ **BANG**_

He didn't want to die.

He didn't want to die

He didn't want to die.

His chair moved under the giant piston. He braced himself, hoped it would be quick, and prepared himself to be crushed by such a terrible sound. His whole body shook violently.

 _"...egi! Na…!"_

"Makoto!"

Suddenly, he felt a light pressure on his arm, and the room seemed to melt away. The piston, the desk, the fence, the unending deafening sounds, all of it slowly vanished from his sight. Almost like static, the room flickered in and out of existence until it disappeared completely and left him feeling as if he was sitting in pure nothing.

His head felt incredibly fuzzy as his senses started to return to him. The first thing that hit him was the utter lack of noise around him. It was so quiet, a stark contrast from just moments earlier, but how was it so? Everything in front of him seemed so bright, and the air felt so crisp and fresh; there was no way he was still in the school anymore. But where was here exactly?

He blinked a few times as he started looking around. He appeared to be in what looked like a park? It was hard to tell with how blurry his vision still was. His eyes pricked with tears that he couldn't blink away, and suddenly his shivering picked up. His heart hadn't slowed from it's erratic pace at all, nor had the tightness in his chest at all dissipated. A strong sense of terror swept over him as he was overwhelmed with a sudden urge to cry.

He didn't know what was going on anymore.

"Makoto," he heard again, and he felt another small squeeze in the same spot on his arm as before. He glanced down to find a gloved hand wrapped gingerly around the bend of his elbow.

His breath hitched again. "K-Kiri…?" His voice was barely above a whisper. He was still so breathless from his racing heart.

She was still a blurred mess to him, but he could make her out. She was sitting next to him on what appeared to be a park bench. She leaned in closer to him while giving another comforting tug on his arm.

"You're safe, Makoto. You're safe, you're with me, we escaped. She can't hurt you, or anyone else anymore." She spoke softly into his ear, almost not loud enough to competed with sound of his heart still pounding in his ears. "You're not in any danger, Makoto, but you need to breathe. Slowly."

Her words confused him. Safe? How could they be safe? How could he be safe?! He was just on his way to die! His heart still felt ready to give out on him at any second! He choked on some air as he tried to speak his ever-racing concerns to her.

The grip on his arm tightened. "Makoto, you need to trust me. I promise you're fine, but you need to breathe, ok?" Her hand shifted, moving off his arm and instead taking on of his hands into her grip. It felt strong, but not at all uncomfortable. He couldn't help but gasp at the move. "You're safe, Makoto, just breathe with me."

He wasn't sure what it was about her—perhaps it was the gentle yet firm tone she'd used, or perhaps it was the memory of knowing how she'd saved him in the past—but he found himself nodding at her. Despite the deep terror he felt, something about her words compelled him to listen to her. The next moments were spent in near silence save for her quiet assurances in his ears and the sounds of him trying to relax his breathing. As time passed, his chest felt just the slightest bit looser, and slowly he could remember what had happened.

They'd escaped Hope's Peak weeks ago and found that Enoshima had lied about the outside world. It wasn't bathed in pure despair, but completely and totally normal, just as it had been before they'd entered the school. They'd been trying to cope ever since. His mom thought maybe some fresh air would be good for him given how long he was locked up, and he managed to get Kirigiri to come along with him. For awhile, it had actually been somewhat nice.

But then of course something had to go wrong. There'd been a noise, a loud, startling kind of sound that sounded just a touch too familiar to something else, and then there had been nothing stopping the memory from crawling out to haunt him. The tears from before threatened to spill again, but now he felt he had no way to hold them back anymore.

"I'm sorry…" he kept whispering over and over again. He was being ridiculous, he knew, but he couldn't stop. Kirigiri simply hushed him again and took to rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand.

Eventually, he managed to collect himself enough that he wasn't a complete mess anymore. He still couldn't stop his hands from shaking, but it was an improvement at least. He wiped his eyes on his arm and looked over to the detective. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly thought better of it and turned away from her again.

She simply waited until he was ready to speak.

"I uh…." He swallowed, trying to think through his words. "What exactly…?"

"There was a trash truck nearby. I believe the sound of it is what set you off," she explained calmly.

"O-oh." The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. So that was what sounded so familiar… He felt his face heat up with embarrassment and forced himself to look away again. He'd gotten so worked up over something so stupid! Of course he was fine, but he still panicked anyway! Argh!

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt her pull her hand back off of his own. It felt a lot colder without it resting there. He looked back over to her with a look of surprise. "I apologize for grabbing you without your permission, but nothing else seemed to be getting through to you, Naegi."

"Huh? O-oh, no. It was fine, I didn't mind, really." He let out a forced chuckle and smile towards her. She said nothing at them, so he dropped them and looked back down at his lap. He twiddled his fingers in silence for a moment. It took a moment to realize that she'd reverted back to using his last name; he hadn't even noticed she'd been referring to him by his first name until now.

...He kind of wished she hadn't stopped.

"...Do you want to talk about it?" she asked suddenly, making him jump.

"Er, I uh…" he wasn't really certain. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk, but the images in his mind still hurt to think about, let alone speak of. But the last time he'd refused to talk hadn't exactly garnered a stellar reaction out of her.

Seeming to sense his concerns, she added. "I'm not going to be mad at you if you say no, Naegi."

He paused for a moment in thought.

"No… yes? I don't know!" He let out a frustrated groan let his head fall into his hands. "I just… this is so… I shouldn't be affected so much by this! We made it out ok in the end! It's not like I actually died or even got that hurt from it! I just… damn it!" He felt the tears come back again.

"But you came close to it, closer than any of us. On more than one occasion." She reminded him bluntly. Not that he needed a reminder. It didn't take much thought to feel the cold metal of the collar wrapping around his throat again, the very collar that pulled him to his attempted execution in the first place. "That kind of experience would be traumatic for anyone. Having aversions to certain sounds or sights that remind you of it is nothing to be ashamed of."

He moved his arms so that he was hugging himself instead. "...I was fine after it happened. This only started recently. After we got out and everything."

"At the time we had other things to worry about, notably surviving the last trial. Your mind had no time to even attempt to process it." She said. He couldn't help but note how her gaze was pointed ahead of them, and her eyes had a strange hint of fogginess in them. Was he imagining that? "Now that the danger has passed… the damage starts to show, sometimes in rather intrusive ways."

"The rest of you don't seem nearly as bad off," he muttered under his breath. Perhaps that was petty of him, and he felt a small fraction of guilt hit him as soon as the words left his mouth.

"It manifests in different ways for different people, Naegi. With your experience, yours may seem a bit more intense by comparison to the rest of us. But I assure you, none of us have left it unscathed." Her eyes closed and she looked away.

"Kirigiri…?" He contemplated returning her gesture from before by placing a hand on her own, but thought better of it. "Are you…?"

She let out a deep sigh through her nose. "...I'm still in the process of recovering my memories from before Hope's Peak. Most of them aren't very pleasant, to say the least. Such is the life of a homicide detective I suppose"

He said nothing at that. What could he say to that? That he was sorry? She probably wasn't looking for his pity. It wasn't exactly like he could relate; sure, he and the others had lost their memories, but not a majority of them like she had. There were talks of finding a way to restore their memories from Hope's Peak, but she couldn't even take part until most of her others had been restored, something about it being too dangerous otherwise.

Another moment of silence passed between them.

"Kirigiri?" He spoke up again.

"Yes?"

"We… we really aren't ok, are we?"

She didn't respond to that. She knew she didn't need to.

"But… we will be. Because I refuse to give Enoshima the satisfaction of seeing us wallow in this for the rest of our lives, wherever she might be." He was still shaking, but there was an unmistakable certainty in his voice. These weren't empty words that he was saying to try and make himself feel better, no, this was a vow. A fire had lit up in his eyes, the very fire that she always saw in every class trial.

Her eyes widened a bit as he stuck his hand out toward her with his pinky pointed out in a very familiar gesture.

"Let's make another promise to each other. That we'll look out for each other, just as always." He gave her the first sincere smile he'd felt capable of all day.

She raised her hand to meet his. "I think I quite like the sound of that, Naegi." She wrapped her pinky around his and returned his smile with a small one of her own.

A moment later, after their hands dropped, she found herself being pulled into a tight hug from the former lucky student. She stiffened, and she almost expected him to pull away like he always did, but this time he didn't budge. His shaking ceased as he leaned toward her and whispered

"Thank you, Kiri. For everything."

She allowed herself a few seconds to process it before returning his moved. "Of course."

They weren't ok, and he frankly wasn't sure how long it was going to take them to get to the point that they were. But they'd do it just like how they survived that twisted idea of a game in the first place: by working together.


End file.
